


It’s Different This Time

by magicisrealforme



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: M/M, Talking, basically just q talking about the fillory timeline to alice, episode speculation, i think its good im proud of this one tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 19:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18184601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicisrealforme/pseuds/magicisrealforme
Summary: Q talks about what happened with Eliot and why this matters more to him than anything else.





	It’s Different This Time

Alice said she had something important to give to Julia, and as much as Quentin wanted to ignore that clusterfuck of a situation, he needed a win. After everything Penny had revealed and him wondering whether helping the Monster was actually worth it. But then he thought of Eliot and...yeah no, definitely not dealing with that whole other clusterfuck. 

Apparently what Alice had was useful after all and Julia was now dealing with her new Goddess-But-Not ordeal. Afterwards she set him aside and told him he needed her help, and as much as he didn’t want to, Kady asked to do it for her. Helping hedge witches get rid of a magic curse seemed like a noble thing to do anyway. 

Right now, Quentin was reading over the specifics of the spell while Alice was awkwardly fumbling across the room. Apparently they were the only ones who could perform the spell, seeing as it called for people who had been, um, intimate. In the biblical sense. 

But as Quentin was memorizing the poppers necessary for the spell, Alice decided to interrupt with a pressing matter. 

“Penny told me by the way. About what will happen if you go through with this. About how utterly fucked everything will be.”

Quentin sighed. This is the last thing he wanted to think about with the last person he wanted to talk to. So he tried his best to deflect. “Yeah, whatever. As long as Eliot’s back.”

Alice seemed like she was going to argue right back, before restraining herself and simply stating, “I understand that, but I’m just saying. Even if you get him back, we don’t know if you or he will even survive this.”

“We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

“No Q, we always end up fucking things for everyone else and ourselves. Have you even stopped to think about anyone other than yourself? Or Eliot? What about your mom?”

Quentin was seemingly getting mad, but decided to sit himself down and restrain himself. “It won’t come to that. And yes, Alice, I do understand how fucked we’d be. But can I just say, we wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.”

“Okay I get it. I fucked up. I can admit that. But Quentin, this will be much worse than just a few greedy assholes controlling magic. It could be the end for us. Especially you because the Monster knows you.”

Quentin wanted to argue, but Alice was right. He was being selfish. 

But, he wanted to be. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted Eliot by his side. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was. He wanted so much and after everything he’d gone through he knew they deserved it.

But the possibilities still sucked. 

Alice noticed Quentin was beginning to tear down his walls little by little, and as she watched the man she once loved more than anything, she had to know, “Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you going through with this? Why would you put everyone in danger to save him?”

“Alice that’s none of your—“

“No! No Q! If I’m going to die while you go on a multiverse killing, suicide mission, I deserve to know how the fuck you’re justifying this whole thing.”

Fuck. Fuck. How did he get along with her when she was always right? Or, mostly anyways. “Alice. I went through hell to bring you back. I spent weeks being haunted by you and the thought that you were dead. I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

“That was different Quentin. You and I were together and I was inside your head and I wasn’t going to kill everyone if I was brought back.”

But that one thing she said. In the beginning. “Who says Eliot and I weren’t together?”

Alice’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? Since when? I never—I never noticed.”

“Well. It’s complicated. We were and we weren’t.” Alice tilted her head in confusion. “I was a dad. In Fillory. Past Fillory technically.”

Alice paced around for a second before turning back to Quentin looking more confused than before.

“Right. So, um. Eliot and I went to Past Fillory during the quest. And I got married to the most amazing woman. And we had the most amazing son. But me and Eliot were, also, kind of, together at the same time? He was definitely Ted’s father though. That’s my son’s name by the way.

“But after a couple of years of being a happy family, Arielle passed away. So it was just me and Eliot and Teddy until...Well. Until I died. And me and Eliot? We were together. We had a family,” he finished, lost in thought. 

“Quentin. I didn—“

“Know? Well no one does. I didn’t see the point in telling anyone until I knew I could save Eliot. And.” He was near tears. “And yeah it is different than when I brought you back. Because I was still trying to figure myself out and I needed you. But I hoped I could somehow live on.

“With Eliot though? I know what it’s like to live a life with him, and only him. And honest to god, after all that time, I know it’s all that I want. And I can’t bring back Teddy or Arielle. But Eliot’s here. He’s the constant. He’s all I want.

“Just me and Eliot versus whatever comes along.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope ya’ll like it! pls comment and u can follow my tumblrs:
> 
> imwritingmybest  
> or  
> camilabadwolf


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